Wire-straightening machine.



c. E. BRADSHAW & w. B. RUNK.

WiRE STRAIGHTENING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. @81 W13- Patented July 6', 1915.

.f m (It W01 To all whom it may concern zcrrARLEs n. BRADSHAWLOF WATERBURY, AND WIL IAM B. BUN on has, con-f NEG'IIGUT, ASSIGNOBS Tom in ROBERT N. BAssiiTrjcoMPAN orsnnrmoiv, 'CQNQI ivno'rrcunnf c'on ronnrron OF CONNECTICUT.

' "WIRE STRAIGHTENING MACHINE.

Be itknown that'we, CHARLES E. BRAD- SHAW, a resident of Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, and WILLIAM B. BUNK, a resident ofDerby, in

the townof Derby, in'the same county and State, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Wire -Straightening Machines, of which the followingis a specification. 1 i

2' Our. invention relates to wire straightening machines and more particularly to-that class of the samein which the wire is given a-lateralbendby 'a guide which revolves around the wire during its passage through the machine, thereby bending it radially in all'directionsaround its axis; and its object is to provide a device of this character in which the guide,'or guides, is*'so mounted as to exert the least tendency toward a-tors'ional strain on the wireiw a I r 1A further object of our invention is to provide longitudinal and transverse adjust- I ing means for changing the angle of the bend in the wire as it passes around the guide or'guides, thereby enabling the machine not only'toaccommodate itself to wires of different character but also to wires of diiferent gages. I I

Weattainthese and other ob ects of our invention invthe machine set 'forth in the following description and accompanying drawings in which like reference; characters 1 refer to corresponding parts.

1 In the drawings: Figure 1 is a top view of the machine, parts thereof being broken awayyFig. 2, an end view; Flg. 3 a transverse sectional view taken on linear-ac in Fig. 1; and Flg. 1, an enlarged transverse sectional view of the guidmg stud..

Our invention generally consists of a bed or frame A having mounted to revolve therein a mandrel B. The bed A is skeleton in form 'and consists of the sidebars 2, 2 and the endbars 3, 3. Projecting from'the 'cornersof the bed arethe feet i-by means of which thebed may be fastened down by the cap screws 5. v The mandrel B. comprises the' 'side bars 6, 6 connected at theirextremie Specification of Letters Patent.

ties to ,form a skeleton 1 8 elongatedhopening i). -pulley 10, provided with flanges ,11, 11 projects from one end of the. frame 8, and from eachextremity; ofthe mandrel projects the journals"l2,}.onje of whlch appearsin'section in Fig. l. \The end bars 3,3 are machined or bored to form bearing seats for thejournalsl2. Thebear in m y be Op ibyare g .thwap' screws l3, l3 andlifting off the cap; plates 1 1, 14, a construction wellknown in journal bearings. Allof the parts of the.,bed A--i with the exception of the cap plates and an; of the'parts ofthe mandrel B maywbermade respectively out of a single. piece or casting."

end'to form an opening 15 and {for'the inser- I tion of thehollow tubes 16,16 which herein- The mandrel BiiS red X QHYf HQI 1fEtO after will be styledas qui lls or. guides. g 'l he outer extremity ofieach quill 16 is knurled to form a thumb-piece l7 andadj acentlto; the-thumb'piece for some sdistancfe,along} the face of the quill arecut screw threads 18 which are %of' less diameter than the open-v inginthe mandrel, thereby permitting the latter 7 fto revolve around the; quills which .latter are heldstationary in a the internally threadedsupporting plates19, 19., Each of,

these supporting platesv is fasteiiedflto lthe end bars 3, 3 ofthe bed Aby the cap screws 20, 20. The quills 16, 16 project; into the.

opening 9 of thelfr'ame 8 and maybe 14 justed longitudinally by screwingthe same back and-forth throughtheirrespective supporting plates 19, 19. The screw threaded) portion of each quill which projects outwardly beyond its supporting plate carries a nut 21 for locking the quill in its, adjusted 7 position. *Theframe 8 of the mandrel-has its sidebars fi, 6 bored transversely.midway of their 1 extremitiesto form seats for the'i guidestud 22 one of theseseats-23 being' v shown in Figsl and3. The guide stud 22 is provided with a diametrically disposed v slot2 midwaybetween its extremities and in, this slot isjour-naled the cone ball bearing guide roller-25 having its peripheryjcut to form a guide channel26 forthe wire. j a

The cone ball bearings are constructediiii the following manner (see Fig. 4:): The guide stud 22 is bored at right angles to the plane of the slot 24 to form a bore 27 for the insertion of the cone screw 28 which has its head beveled on its under side to form the cone 29. The bore 27 is provided with a seat in Which sets the internally screw threaded cone 30 and through which latter passes the shank 31 of the cone screw 28. The roller 25 is provided with an opening greater than the diameters of the head of the cone screw 28 and the cone 30 the internal face of which opening is out to form reverse cones 32, 32.

To assemble the parts the roller 25 is inserted in the slot 2% so that its central opening will register with the bore 27 in the guide stud 22, then the cone 30 is dropped into its seat in the bore 27. The balls 33 are then dropped into the bore 27 where they rest upon the cones 30 and 32. The cone screw 28 is then inserted in the bore so that its cone 29 rests on the balls. Thus assembled, the cones '29 and 30 cooperate respectively with the reversed cones 32, 32 of the roller toform seats for the balls 33. The

bearings may be adjusted, that is tightened or loosened, by screwing the cone screw 28 back and forth through the cone 30. When the adjustment is once effected it may be set by thelock nut 3a which is screwed over the extremity of the shank 31 of the cone screw. The guide stud may be adjusted transversely through the seats 23 of the mandrel by means of the locking screw 35.

To thread the wire prior to operating the machine the extremity is passed through one of the quills from its outer end then through the guide stud 22 which latter may be set so that the opening formed by the'channel 26 in the guide roller'and the adjacent extremity of the slot 24 is in alinement with the axis of the bore in the quills; then the wire is passed through the bore in the other quill and outwardly into a wire working machine or upon the ordinary drawing table the wire being fed by any suitable means.

The quills being .in alinement with each other and the guide stud being so set that the wire may be passed therethrough with out giving any bend thereto the threading of the wire is greatly facilitated. After the threading of the wire is eflected the guide stud is then adjusted transversely of the mandrel and the quills adjusted longitudinally thereof to give the desired angle and length to the bend. The inner extremity of each quill has its bore flared outwardly to present a smooth bearing surface to the wire. Since the quills are fixed relative to the revolving movement of the mandrel any torsional strain in one direction exerted by the wall of the channel 26 of the roller is counteracted by the torsional strain in the other direction exerted by the bearing surfaces in the flared extremities of the quills. The traction of the wire causes the guide roller to revolve on its bearings so that this taken together with the elimination of the torsional strain above referred to enables a rolling contact to be effected between the roller and the wire, thereby reducing the load on the machine. This manner of mounting the roller guide gives to the wire a very high polish free from all scratches or other objectionable marks thus making the machine particularly adapted to straighten soft wires. Since the cones of the bearings are adjustable the balls are permitted more or less play in their seats so that the roller may yield slightly against the centrifugal force exerted on the balls when the roller is revolved bodily by the mandrel. If desired a plurality of guide studs may be employed in which case the mandrel frame may be lengthened.

Having now described our invention what we claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a wire straightening machine, a bed or frame carrying an axially bored mandrel, a pair of apertured internally screw threaded supporting plates secured to the ends of said frame and a pair of externally screw threaded quills of less diameter than said bore, the said quills being fitted to the apertures in said plates and extended through said bore, whereby a longitudinal adjustment of the quills may be efi'ected by axially turning the same in their respective plates.

2. In a wire straightening machine a revoluble mandrel, an adjustable guide member carried by said mandrel, the said guide member being provided with a slot disposed in a direction radial to the axis of the mandrel, a centrally apertured guide roller located in said slot, the wall of the aperture in said roller being circumferentially recessed to present a bearing surface, a pair of inverted cones mounted in said guide member, the said cones being extended into the aperture in the roller forming a raceway between the cones and the wall of the aperture, and a series of balls carried by said raceway.

3. In a wire straightening machine a revoluble mandrel, an adjustable guide member carried by said mandrel, the said guide member beingprovided with a slot disposed in a direction radial to the axis of the mandrel, an antifrictio-n centrally apertured guide roller located in said slot, the wall of the aperture in said roller being circumferentially recessed to present a bearing surface, a pair of inverted cones one of which is seated on one side of said roller and the 1,145,345 I Y i other adjustably mounted relatively to the set our hands this 8th day of September, t

first mentioned cone. on the other side of said 1913. roller, the said cones being extended into the aperture in the roller forming a raceway between the cones. and the wall of the said aperture, and a series of balls carried by said raceway.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto 7 CHARLES E. BRADSHAW. WILLIAM B. BUNK, Witnesses JosErH E. C. FOGARTY, FRANK A. BURWELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

